Process of producing heat.



C. ELLIS.

PROCESS OF PRODUCING HEAT.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-6, 19x1. REMWED FEB. 9. 1917.

1,239,??6 PatentedSopt. 11, 191?.

V In V611 tor: L

i fractory material a current of hot producer gas and a current ofpreheated air; posi GABLETON nLLIs, or'iitonronnm; cnnw -.'rnnsny,nssrenon'ro RADIANT HEATING LIMITED, OF AR'MLEY, LEEDS, YEITGLAND, ACORPORATION OF GREAT BRITAIN.

1,2393%. Application filed meme 6,- 191 1 To all whom it mag concern? II face combustion-and the production of high Be it known that I,Qnnnnron -Ennis, a. 'citizen of,the United States, and resident ofMontclair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements 11,1"PI'0C8SS6S of Producing Heat,ofwhich the following is a I specification. p I Q This invention relatesto processes of c'onducting-combustion in furnaces or other heatingappliances and relates in particular to processes involving thephenomena of surradiative effects in furnaces, diaphragm bodies and thelike; all as more-fully herein-. after described and as claimed.

The usual process of surface combustion due speed of travel of theexplosive mixture,

a speed which may even be prohibitive, is called for.

The process of the present invention in- 'volves the regulation andcontrol of surface combustion under such circumstances in apredetermined manner, and comprises 1ntroducing into a porous mass orbed of retioning the loci of confluence, within the porosities of themass of granular material, of the agents of combustion with respect tothe pre-ignitive characteristics of'the pro-. ducer' gas, thetemperature of the preheated air, and the permeability of 'the' porousmass; causingv combustion to take place in said mass,whereby apredominating degree of surface combustion is' secured andsimultaneouslythe development 'of a maximum of radiant heat; absorbing-the majorportion of said radiant heat in the performance of useful heatingoperations ;"withdrawing. the waste products of. combustion; andregeneratively transferring a portion f the hgat according tocircumstances.

troduced mocess or rnoiiucme HEAT.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept, 11, 319117,,er'ialNoLGGfiOL; Renewed February 9, 1917. Serial No. 147,723.

of the latter to suitably preheat the combustible gas or air or both, ora portion of each,

' The conditions governing such an operation are as follows;the variouscombustible gases used in industrial heating processes, such as naturalgas, illuminating gas; water gas, hydrocarbon vapor gas, coke oven gas,Mond and producer gas, hydrogen, carbon monoxid, blast furnace gas, andthe like, have, when mixed with a suitable amount of air or othersupporter of combustion, differing rates of inflammation or explosivepropagation which depend, essentially, on their pre-ignitivecharacteristics. The temperature of the gas and air just prior toadmixture also materially modifies V the speed. of explosive ropagation,increase of initial temperature aving an accelerating eifect. Pressurelikewise exerts aninfluence although this is relatively slight underordinary furnace conditions where the pressure is usually nearlyatmospheric. However with considerably increased pressure or operationof a furnace under the suc- .tion principle this factor must be givensome consideration. Another factor is the permeability of the porousmass on which, at constant pressure, the rate of travel of the agents ofcombustion also depends.

In applying the prodess of the present invention to,for example, amufile furnace or gas retort furnace, the space between the walls of thefurnade and the muflie is largely filled with fragme ts of granularrefractory material of a size in part depending on the size of themuffle chamber, but ranging. usually from oneinch to three inches indiameter. A regenerator or recuperator is .provided to permit ofpreheating the air, and gas-also if-desired. The gas and air are in-.into the combustion chamber through ports which closely approximate butwhose spacing depends upon the char acter and temperature of theincoming agents of combusti n, so vthat the loci of confluence, withint' e porosities of the mass of granular material,,may be predetermined100 and the'regulati n, and control of surface combustion withlprelieated gases secured. The ports ,for the enti y of the gas and airmay be situated at or near the top of the furnace structure so that-thetop of, the

mufiie receives the maximum heat, causing the material in the muffle,whether mineral matter, coal and the like, to be exposed to a very highdegree of radiant heat. The exit 'ports insuch a case may be at or nearthe muflie 10 and the outer furnace walls 11 is.

filled with a mass of granular refractory material 12. This granularmaterial forms the porous and permeable combustion bed which, as shown,completely surrounds the inufiie. The combustible gas. and air areinjected into the combustion bed through inlet pipes or nozzles 13 and14: arranged in oneor more pairs, each pair including a gas inlet and anair inletset comparatively close together andrelatively adjustable tovary the space between them as may be required according to thecharacter and temperature of the incoming agents of combustion. Asshown, two such pairs of gas and air supply nozzles are providedarranged for injecting the gas and air through the top of the furnaceinto the upper part of the combustion bed and an exit ort is provided inthe bottom wall of the urnace to permit the products of combustion topass out through a discharge pipe 15. The gas and air may be suppliedunder suitable pressure from any suitable source or by suitable meanssuch as the pumps 16 and 17 respectively, as shown, the gas passing fromthe pump 16 through pipe 18 to the nozzles 13, and the air passing fromthe pump 17 through pipe 19 to the nozzles 14. For adjusting the spacingof the nozzles of each pair in the construction shown the air nozzlesare carried by a section of pipe which has -a sleeve-connection with themain ortion of the pipe 19 and is adjustable as y means of a screw 20 tomove the nozzles 1 1 toward or from the gas nozzles 13, suitable slideplates '21 being provided to close the opening in the furnace wallthrough which the nozzles extend. For pre-heating the air supplied tothe nozzles 14, the pipe 19 leadin from the air pump passes through acharm er 22 through which pass the products of combustion from thedischarge pipe 15. 1 If it is desired to preheat the combustible gasaswell as the air, the gas supply pipe 18 may also be passed through theheating chamber 22 for a greater or less distance as may be founddesirable. The supply of gas and air may be controlled by suitablyregulating the pumps or by means of valves 25 and 26 arranged respec-.material of the bed at the points or places where intimate mixture orconfluence of the.

gas and air takesplace.

What I claim is 1. The process of producing heat which comprisesinjecting into a highly heated porous and permeable bed 'ofrefractorymaterial currents of gasand air to com- ,m'ingle within the bed andjtocause combustion to take place-adjacent the highly heated interiorsurfaces of the bed at the points of confluence of the gas and air, andpositioning the points or places of confluence of thegas and air withrespect to the preigni tive characteristics of the gas and therespective temperatures of the gas and air.

2. Theprocess of producing heat which comprises injecting intoa highlyheated porous and permeable bed .of refractory material acurrent-'oflaoombustible gas and a current of a supporter of combustionto commingle within the bed and to cause combustion to take placeadjacent the highly heated interior surfaces of the bed at the points ofconfluence of the gas and the comustion supporter, and positioning thepoints or'places of confluence of the gas andcombustion supporterwithrespectto their respective initial temperatures.

3. The process of producing heat which comprises injecting into a highlyheated porous and permeable bed of refractory material a current of acombustible gas and a current of a supporter of combustion to comminglewithin the bed and to cause combustion to take place adjacent the highlyheated interior surfaces of the bed at the points of confluence of thegas and the combustion supporter, and positioning the points or placesof confluence of the gas and combustion supporter with respect to theirchemical characteristics.

4. The process of producing heat which comprises injecting into a highlyheated porous and permeable bed of refractory material' a current of hotgaseous combustible and an adjacent current of preheated air tocommingle within the bed and to cause combustion to take place'adjacentthe highly heated interior surfaces of the bed at the points ofconfluence of the combustible and air.

5. The process of producing heat which comprises injecting into a highlyheated porous and permeable bed'of refractory material a current ofgaseous combustible and a current of preheated air to commingle w thinthe bed and to cause cgmbustion to take place adjacent the highly heatedsurcombustion, and regenem'tively transferring faces of the bed at thepoints of confluence of the gas and air. a

6. The process of producing heat which comprises injecting into a highlyheated porous and permeable bed of refractory material a current ofcombustible gas and a ourrent of regeneratively heated air to comminglewithin the bed and to cause combustion to take place adjacent the highlyheated interior surfaces of the bed at the points of confluence of thegas and air, and position ing the points or places of confluence of thegas and air with respect to the preignited characteristics of the gas,the temperature of'the air and the permeability of the bed.

7. The process of producing heat which comprises injecting into a highlyheated p0- rous and permeable bed of refractory material a current ofcombustible gas and a current of air to commingle Within the bed and tocause combustion to take place-adjacent the highly heatedinterior-surfaces of the bed at the points of confluence of the gas andair, Withdrawing the hot products of a portion of the heat of theproducts of 001m bustion to .at leastone of the entering agents ofcombustion. a

8. The process of producing heat which comprises injecting into a highlyheated porous and permeable bed of refractory material a current ofcombustible and a current of air to commingle Within the bed and tocause combustion to take place adjacent the highly heated interiorsurfaces of the bed at the points of confluence of the gas and air,Withdrawing the hot products of combustion, and preheating the enteringgasand air by transferring thereto a portion of the heat of thewithdrawn products of 001m bustion.

Signed at Montolair, in the county of .Essex and State of New Jersey,this 5th day of December, A. D. 1911.

CARLETON ELLIS. Witnesses: CHARLES WRIGHT, CHAS. HARRISON.

